𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐃

08. 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀

     FOR A MONTH OR SO, THE MAXIMOFFS LEARNED TO CONTROL THEIR POWERS. With the remaining three pupils, Strucker was proud of the results and the enhanced-beings he was granted. An experiment took several lives, but three orphans managed to survive a strange process, revealing something dangerous within them. Although they had managed to surpass the Scepter's test, the Maximoffs weren't the same; they struggled with their inner demons and the powers they possess. Eszter was pretty sure her body was floating within itself.

     Eszter Maximoff felt something inside her awaken from the Stone, something dark and powerful snapped; whatever it was, Eszter wasn't sure whether to embrace it or be afraid of it. But when she saw the floating figure going towards her, Eszter let it consume her and took in the darkness with open arms. As if a door that had been locked for so long, the key was granted from the lost and found, unlocking what hid behind the door for so long. It was both comforting yet terrifying. Eszter could feel things she never thought she could. Confusing at first, until Eszter was able to practice and depict which emotions were hers and what wasn't, the enhanced manipulated those emotions; everyone around her was content, emotionless as their minds were set on the determination of ending the Avengers.

     Back in her original room with the bed, Eszter hadn't left the uncomfortable mattress since she returned, staring at nothing with a blank look in her eyes. Across her room were a stack of blocks, left to demonstrate and help practice Eszter's abilities; lodged in the wall, a few blocks decorated the wall until four of them stayed put, piercing the wall with the edges poking inside.     

     "Miss Maximoff, for our test, can you take those blocks and use your telekinesis," Strucker's voice breaks into the speaker of Eszter's room, but the enhanced doesn't react, still on her bed.

     Eszter snapped her neck in the direction of the double-sided window, tilting her head as the violet color swirls in her eyes, sensing the presence outside her room. Strucker met Eszter's eyes, unknown that the enhanced could practically see him through the mirror, Eszter looks away. Sitting in the corner of the room, discarded and splayed across the floor, Eszter stares at the blocks; with a rise of a single hand, violet tendrils formed around the blocks as they slithered like a snake, slowly lifting the blocks from the ground.

     Sliding off the telekinetic balance, a block tumbles to the ground as Eszter's finger twitches randomly, flicking one block higher than the other, twirling in the air. A slight crick in Eszter's neck curtly tilts until her chin was pointing almost upward, the concentration struck her features as she stares at the blocks floating in front of her.

     The focus was the biggest priority when it came to telekinesis. From what Eszter had first noticed, it took a lot of practice for the enhanced to be able to pick up multiple blocks at a time. The mind is meant to be clear and empty; everything needed to be silent like a mouse. All the mind should be focused on is the target. 

     Strucker watched on with awe. The enhanced was just like the other, and the telekinetic abilities were vaguely similar to the female twin; however, he had noticed the color of their abilities were different. Strucker knew he had found his prized pupils--two volunteers who can move things with their minds; they can easily bring down the Avengers, and with the speed they have, they're untouchable.

     "Can you demonstrate for us the ability you've acquired?"

     Raising her other hand, commanding it upon her, dark smoke began to seep from Eszter like a pool; pouring over the bed and onto the floor, waves of darkness drips onto the floor of her room, slowly spreading. The ability to manipulate darkness was a surprise itself; Eszter woke up one morning and found herself sitting in a room of darkness, nothing but a voice calling out to her desperately. At the time, no one had known what was happening to Eszter because they had no visual, but they knew she was inside because her energy source remained. Strucker was thrilled, to say the least.